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‘Scotland must face up to role in slavery’

Mike Wade

January 11 2014, 12:02am, The Times

Chiwetel Ejiofor in a scene from 12 Years A Slave, which presents a shattering depiction of slavery in America. The authors of a new book paint a similar picture of Scotland’s role in the slave tradeJaap Buitendijk

A new warts-and-all account of Scotland’s role in slavery within the British Empire will end once and for all a national “amnesia” about the dark side of the country’s history, according to the senior academics behind the project.

Details of the explosive study emerged as the film 12 Years a Slave opened around the world, presenting a shattering depiction of slavery in America. The authors of Scotland, Slavery and Amnesia, believe it can deliver a similar corrective to Scottish complacency about its role in empire.

“It is only in the 21st century that historians have begun to get to grips with the possibility of Scots as exploiters and slavers,” said Professor Tom Devine, the editor of the collection. After publication, widespread ignorance of the country’s…